Professional Health Blog

Metabolism is a complicated chemical process, so it’s not surprising that many people think of it in its simplest sense: as something that influences how easily our bodies gain or lose weight. Each person’s metabolism is unique due to their unique physical makeup and physical behavior. Your metabolism is determined by your sex, age, muscle mass, how much exercise you do on a regular basis, and what types of exercise you do.

Metabolism converts the fuel in the food we eat into the energy needed to power everything we do, from moving to thinking to growing. If you exercise with weights and do some type of aerobic activity on a regular basis, you probably won’t notice much of a change in your metabolism as you age. If your diet has resulted in an increase in your percentage of body fat, then your metabolism has probably slowed down.

What Slows Metabolism

While everyone’s metabolism works the same way, the rate at which it metabolizes nutrients is unique to every individual. Lack of dietary protein, low calorie diets, long term fasting, being sedentary for long periods, illness, age, and other factors can slow your metabolism, making it progressively more difficult to lose weight and keep it off. Your body fat is used as fuel, but low calorie diets inadequate in nutrition also break down muscle and other body tissue including ultimately cardiac muscle. It’s true that your metabolism slows slightly as you get older, so to maintain a stable weight, you must adjust your caloric intake and/or physical activity.

What Speeds Up Metabolism

The best way to increase metabolism is by creating a higher demand for calories. Muscle burns calories more efficiently than fat; the more muscle you have in relation to your body fat, the higher your metabolism will be. Most experts agree that weight training and aerobic exercise do increase metabolism while you are exercising and after you are done. Eating meals that are nutrient dense, high in protein, adequate in fat, fiber and water, can raise your metabolism. The best approach for weight loss while still protecting your metabolism is to eat 250 to 500 calories less than your daily requirements and burning body fat through aerobics and resistance training. Four to six small meals a day is a good way to keep your metabolism humming.

Diet alone is not the best way to increase metabolism. One common mistake is the belief your muscles will maintain if you’re sedentary or exercise very little. People who exercise on a regular basis naturally can eat more food without gaining weight because they use more calories. So while exercise may increase metabolism, it must be paired with a good diet. Lean muscle mass, in turn, is lost when exercise is stopped – as often happens when people age. While they still eat the same amount of food, the exercise is decreased, and the result is fat storage, which in turn further slows down the metabolism. Studies show that after age 45 you lose 1% of your muscle mass a year if you don’t exercise.

Metabolism is the means by which your body turns food into energy. The best way to increase metabolism is by creating a higher demand for calories. Genetics may factor into metabolism somewhat, but considering the fact that you can control the increase in your own metabolism, the notion that you are at the mercy of your genetic makeup doesn’t carry much weight.

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